The Den Population 23
From Military To Horror A Personal Reflection
Hey Survivor,
Welcome to The Den, where our ever-growing group of survivors talk about horror, zombies, and the apocalypse. I hope you’re doing alright. I know there really isn’t much I can do, worlds away, but if you ever want to talk or cut it up about horror, I’m just one email away. I know the new year can be overwhelming and cause people to think they have to do everything now or they're a failure; maybe that’s just me and my insecurities, but either way, I’m here to support you in any way I can. Today, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my life and how I got to where I am. It’s been a long, wild ride, and I’m not exactly where I want to be in my career, but I’m further along than I thought I would be. If you don’t want to go down this reflection road with me, you can skip this one, and I’ll see you in the next one.
The Bronx
So, I was born in the Bronx in 1987. I was the youngest of 9 kids (My parents each had kids from prior marriages), and I was also the first generation American of my family. I didn’t know any of that then, or even for a long time; I just knew I was a New Yorker and a Bronx Boy. I lived in the projects for a while, which, if you didn’t know, is one of the main reasons I connected with and was terrified of Candyman (Rest In Power to Tony Todd; we lost an icon last year). Candyman takes place in Chicago, but the scene in the park with that run-down bathroom was just like the one I could see from my window, so year Candyman was my personal boogieman growing up.
The Bronx was an awesome place to grow up. I loved it, and I loved the friends I made and the memories. I lived in The Projects until the 3rd grade, I think. Then we moved to a three-family home in a better part of the Bronx, where my life started to shape; I met my best friend, had my writing dreams stepped on for the first time, and hung out at Gamer’s Domain way more than my wallet allowed. Since this is about writing, we can focus on my 4th-grade teacher. It was October, so we were tasked to write scary stories. I wrote one about a cat that you couldn’t kill even after his 9th life, and he was hell-bent on getting revenge on the person who killed him the first time. At that time, I was really bad at spelling and reading. Something wasn’t clicking for me. So when my teacher went around to everyone’s desk looking at their papers, I was both proud because I thought I had made a scary story and worried because that teacher seemed to always point out my issues to me and not in the nicest of ways. This time, she called the principal and took me into the hall with her and him.
Teacher: “Take a look at this.”
The principal puts on his glasses and reads my story: “Oh, wow.”
Teacher: “Right?”
Princple: “This is very bloody, did you want to talk to his parent about the content?”
Teacher: “What? No. Everyone is telling bloody, scary stories; it’s October. I’m talking about his spelling or lack thereof.”
Me, trying hard not to cry.
Principle: “We can call in his parents.”
Teacher: “Go sit down.”
Now that I look back on it, I don’t think my parents were ever called in. But long story short, I was left back in the 4th Grade. My writing dreams were dashed, so I didn’t want to share my writing with anyone. Thankfully, my next 4th-grade teacher worked with me and helped me get on the right level regarding reading and writing. He then told me to take this test. I took it and returned to the class, and I was like, “What’s that test for?” He said it's a placement test, and if I pass, they’ll put me in the correct grade, which they did. It was amazing… oh, and in that same class, I got entered into a nationwide storytelling contest. So, I guess I just needed someone who cared. He was also the first Black teacher I ever had.
College Daze
I truly believe that College is not for everyone because it wasn’t for me. Everything I ever wanted to do or be didn’t require me to go to college; all I did in college was party and create debt. First, I went to culinary school to open a restaurant to make money, retire, open a comic book store, and write stories all day. When I saw the extra steps in my plan, I changed my major to business and just focused on opening a comic book store. I did some dumb things in college, so I decided to move south to Georgia cause my Mom and sister were down there now, and I thought it would be a good change in pace for me. It wasn’t; I just partied harder because I felt out of my element being in the South. But I still met some great people (Like my wife, who wasn’t my wife at the time, but she was still awesome), and I started writing more. Mostly emo poems about dating, sex, and parting. I was too worried about tackling a book or a story cause I always thought back to my teacher’s reaction. One New Year, I told myself I would write something and finish it. I also told myself I would pass all my classes cause I was on the verge of being kicked out. That year was 2010, and that something turned out to be the start of Planet Dead.
Oh, I did get kicked out. I panicked and decided to drop all my classes except one to get my GPA up fast and be fine for the next year. So I kept “Intro To Film,” and she failed me. So I got kicked out and decided I was going to join the military since I had nowhere else to go, no way of paying these student loans, and no actual path in life. I learned years later that the Film teacher failed everyone in that class and her others and got fired for doing so, and everyone got their grades adjusted except me cause they already kicked me out.
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Military Living
I greatly thank the Army for shaping me into who I am now. I feel like before joining the Army, I was lazy and lost. Now, I like to think I’m hard-working and focused on the things that I want in life for my family and myself. The Army gave me a lot, but it also took a lot from me. I battle, and still battle to this day, with depression due to my time in the military. I had some really dark moments. So I started throwing myself into things to focus on, such as partying and movies, and when I deployed, it was writing. I picked up my Planet Dead story and decided to drop the 3 stories in one concept and focus on Catherine’s story. While deployed, I even tried to look for agents. I got turned down left and right, but to be fair, I didn’t know what I was doing, and my book was nowhere near being done. I got really “Well, I’ll do it myself!” After that, I looked into self-publishing.
Finding My Passion
I continued to write during my deployment because everyone I let read Planet Dead seemed to enjoy it. When I returned home, I still wanted to publish a book, but I didn’t think I had time to make it happen. I was trying to get promoted, I was in the kitchen all the time, I was getting married, and there was a baby on the way. So, I put it on the back burner until 2015. I started to get into audiobooks, and I was listening to two series that really made me laugh and pulled me out of my mental funk. They were the Slow Burn series by Bobby Adair and The Tome of Bill series by Rick Gualtieri. These books were emotional, funny, and still horror, so I loved them. One time, I was walking to work and laughing out loud at Slow Burn, and then it hit me; I want to make people feel like this. I want my writing to pull people out of their messy lives and give them something to laugh at and cheer for. So, I would wake up two hours before work every morning to write and stay up one hour later. I would write on my phone and in a notebook during work. I was so focused and locked in on getting that story done and it really helped me a lot through hard times, it gave me something to throw myself into. Then I started learning more about self-publishing through YouTube and podcasts, and I saw that people were doing this for a living, and that’s what I wanted for me.
Chasing The Dream
2017 I published my first book and I haven’t looked back. I’ve questioned myself like ten times everyday but I love storytelling and I really feel like this was my calling, this is what God put me here to do. So when I wasn’t getting any page reads or podcast invites, and my reviews were low or bad, I kept pushing. I kept chasing that dream, and now I’ve moved over 10,000 books on Amazon. I’ve worked with two publishers. I’ve met many amazing people, and the most important thing is that people love my stories, which keeps me going. That’s what makes me keep chasing this dream, survivors like you are supporting and rooting me on.
So Thank You.
Everything I’ve done has really prepared me for this path in life. I have no plans of stopping; I will keep pushing and kicking down doors until everyone knows my name.
This Year’s Writing Plans (Not sure if they’ll be published in 2025):
Planet Dead 4
The Kingdom Of Darkness (Short)
Young Blood 2
Souls of Savannah
What Dream Are You Chasing? I would love to hear about it.
Well, thank you for taking the time to read this. You didn’t have to sit down to figure out how my little mind works, but you did, and that means a lot to me. I hope whatever you’re chasing, that the journey is amazing and worth the moment when you finally catch it.
As always, stay safe, stay woke, and stay alive!
Until the Next Nightmare,
Hi Sylvester, that was an awesome journey to read. Thanks for sharing with us and our fellow survivors. 10,000 books on Amazon is pretty incredible. You deserve a crown for so many reasons, not just Zombieween King reasons.